By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — President Obama’s proposed budget could mean less money for farmland conservation than what was promised in the 2008 farm bill, but according to USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), it’s too early to say whether some popular programs will be affected.

“We have not seen many details of the President’s proposal and we haven’t seen any analyses from our headquarters, so it’s hard to react to it,” said Mike McGovern, public affairs specialist with the Indiana NRCS. “We never really know how it’s going to come out until there’s a final bill.”

The President’s 2010 budget allocates $1.2 billion to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a $250 million decrease compared with the $1.45 billion authorized in the farm bill. For fiscal year 2009, the program received $1.067 billion, so Obama’s budget still represents an increase in funding from current levels.

But the American Farmland Trust (AFT) says that’s not enough. “Despite (the President’s) desire to support conservation and agriculture, reductions in conservation spending will make it much more difficult for farmers and ranchers to make changes necessary to protect our air, land and water,” said Jon Scholl, AFT president, in a statement.

“We are well aware of the difficult economy and fiscal situation our nation faces, but we also recognize the improvements agriculture can bring to the serious environmental challenges we face, including climate change, reduced water quality and the loss of farmland.”

EQIP provides technical and financial assistance to farmers wanting to address threats to soil, water, air and other natural resources. The program covers up to 75 percent of costs incurred and income lost in order to implement conservation practices, to a maximum of $300,000 over six years.

Indiana typically receives about $10 million annually to fund EQIP, but last year the state received an extra infusion of over $9 million because some other states weren’t able to spend their EQIP money.

“EQIP is a very popular program with Indiana farmers,” said McGovern.

Obama’s budget also proposes $120 million in funding for the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRLPP), down from $121 million for fiscal year 2009 and $150 million authorized in the farm bill. The NRCS uses FRLPP to help protect farmland from development by acquiring conservation easements from landowners in partnership with state, local and tribal governments, as well as non-government organizations.

“State and local budgets are under enormous pressure, making the federal FRLPP matching money all the more important in protecting farm and ranch land. These lands are a precious and irreplaceable natural resource,” said Bob Wagner, AFT’s senior director of farmland protection programs, in a statement.

In Indiana, however, the reduction likely won’t change much. According to McGovern, no local governments or other organizations have ever been able to come up with the matching funds required for the FRLPP. Because Indiana has never been able to allocate the money, the state no longer receives FRLPP money automatically, but could request it if needed.

“If we saw an opportunity we would go after the money, there’s no question about that. But at this point, no other organization has stepped forward,” McGovern said.

He added that funding for conservation increased significantly with the 2002 farm bill and the trend continued with the 2008 farm bill.
“We generally like to see as much money allocated to conservation as possible, but we also realize that there are a lot of other areas that need money right now,” McGovern said. “The country definitely has some economic problems and not every government program is going to be fully funded. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out, Congress is still going to have their say.”